A method of redress _ tt was obvious ‘from, the beginning that there. would bea certain amount of pain in‘every segment of the commuriity when local’ schools were shut down by a labor dispute, but everyone. knew it was the students 7 who were really going to take the punishment. Now, with public education more or less: back to. a a what passes for normal, the Ministry of Education ex- |. miners have crunched some: ‘numbers and are‘claim- - ing that the results of. the provincial examinations written by.Caledonia school Grade 12 students im- mediately after the strike are within the historic average for the school and above the provincial average: The conclusion is that they did just fine -without preparation assistance from teachers and re- quire no adjustment to their marks, but the students : -themselves and the administrators and teachers who © know them seem certain that it simply isn’t so. The critical weight of provincial examinations in - determining a-student’s final marks — and academic. future — is difficult to overrate. It’s literally. half the battle in Grade 12. The disappointment and feeling of ° . despair on the part of Caledonia students interviewed for the story in this issue of the Terrace Review should move this community into action. The Ministry isn’t entirely to blame for their conclusions, based as they are on an incomplete understanding of what. those ex- ams results coudd have been if the students. had been _ adequately prepared. .. The teachers and the district came out of this strike ” with a contract that is mutuaily'satisfactory, and _- although property owners can expect another tax hike — ' (although we won’t know that until the board passes — its budget bylaw April 30) they can at least hope for continuing improvement - in the quality of education. What the senior students got was an unfair burden and an unworkable set of alternatives. A blown _ scholarship for some of them is going to make a critical difference in their lives and their futures. — With the board and teachers having settled their score for the time being, it’s time for them to goto | wall on behalf of the people who really count in this system and force the ministry to reconsider its ‘find: ings. | vEnirieo qaAacLlation PAID Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published _ @ach Wednesday by ' Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: Mark Twyford Editor: . Michael Kelly. Staff Reporter: -. Tod Strachan '.” Advertising Manager: _. Marj Twyford Advertising Consultant: co - Darel Gilham Typesetting: Carle Olson - a Production Manager: 2 Jim Hall Production: . Alvin Stewart, _. Gutbax Gill, Linda Mercer Office: Carrie Olson _ Accounting: - Mar] Twyford. : Harminder Dosanjh Terrace Review Wed nesd ay . ~ 7 a ; ?P er specti ves” by Bob Jackman =a Surprise — snow in Victoria: _No surprise — snow in Bob. Prabert’s van, Broadbent re-. . signs, and I get a visit from - Revenue Canada. Quite a week! When Ben Johnson's Olym- | - pic medal was taken away, ‘polls showed that about 78 per- cent of Canadians believed him ‘when he said he didn’t take steroids. As one of the 22 per- cent, I’m not ‘surprised by Charlie Francis’ revelations. ’ ”"\ Rather than taking the fall ENA "Second-class mail ragistration.-No. 6896. - Att material appearing in the Terrace Review is protected under Canadian copyright Regiatra- tlon No. 362775 and cannot legally be repro- duced for any reason without permission of the publisher. Errors and omissions. Advertising is accepted on: the condition. that in the event of typographical error, that portion of tha adverts: Ing space occupted by the erroneous ttem will not be charged for, but the balance of the adver- tlsement will be pald for at the applicable rate. ‘Advertisers must aseume responsibility for er- rors in any classified ad which Is supplied to the Terrace Review in handwritten form. In compliance with the 6.C, Human Rights Act, no advertisement will be pubilshed which discriminates against a peraon due to age, race, ratigion, , color, 26x, nationality, ancestry or place of origin. 4535 Grelg Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M7 Phone: 635-7840 _ . rae One year subscriptions: "In Canada $24.00 a Oui of Canada $50.00 -, Seniors in Terrace and District $12.00 _ Seniors out of Terrace and District $18.00 an = Letters to the editor will be considered for publication only when signed, "+ Please Include your telephone number. "fhe editor reserves the right to condense and edit letters. Opinions ‘ _ _ expressed are not necessarily those ot the Terrace Review, alone, coach Francis is spilling . - his guts — and it’s about time for the good of Canadian sport. When the people who condone this kind of thing get _ hung out to dry (like they'd planned to do with Francis), - maybe there’s some hope yet. Next up... MK Bay Marina. When Terrace and Kitimat Re- “J Thaw a real problem vith public funding for anything that caters to such a indicrowsty small number of people.” before annual operating costs, minimum, I have a real prob- lem with public funding for anything that caters to such a ludicrously small number of — | people. Economic development is getting a big share of the news these days. The 16-37 Com- ‘munity Futures Committee has gional District. reps met a coup- le of years ago, the Marina was on a two-line hit list, the other line occupied by Kitsumkalum Ski Hill. Kitsumkalum is now history, but the bottomless pit of MK Bay continues to suck up political energy and public money. Skiing, while certainly not a poor man’s sport, does attract many, many. families and pro- vides a strong economic im- . petus to the community. The - marina, on the other hand, caters to only a very few in- _ dividuals. The maximum. number of boats expected is 200, and to make the project even remotely accessible finan-_ cially that figure will likely be- downscaled to 150. The Feds have already pumped a million _ dollars into the marina, and conservative estimates now place the budget at $2 million. - THAT IS $10,000 PER BOAT, Leng eS Oe cepa gaa ee gr aes emer oe nat ease. roma released its‘plan for a Business Development Centre and hired Deborah Sargent, a former clerk with the WCB here before moving to Gold River a few months ago, to get the project up and running. Visibility and - credibility will be important aspects of the BDC — the in- cubator approach to helping new businesses find their wings coupled with funding assistance and managerial expertise should make the BDC a . welcome addition to the region. One of the most effective proponents of economic devel- opment in this area has to be . Dr. Val George, who took an active leadership role as presi- dent of Northwest Community College in tailoring education to meet the needs of local in- dustry and business. As well, | ‘he’s presently serving as Chair- man of the City’s Tourism and Economic Advisory Committee (TEAC). I can't pretend to know the politics involved in the brain drain from NWCC, but I do know it would be a shame if a quality gentleman of Dr. George’s stature were to leave the community. Finally, City Hall is short- listing their candidates for an Economic Development Of- ficer, Council has taken a firm hands-on approach lately (at last, a performance appraisal . system!) and in. this particular hiring would be wise to con- tinue that approach. It’s been said that first-rate people hire first-rate people, and second- rate people hire third-rate peo- ple. You can hire people less competent than you so they never become a threat, or you can.hire stars who make you look. good by covering your ‘weak areas. I’ve worked in both environments, and you can guess which one I prefer. : Council has invested in- - numerable hours and spent a pretty good chunk of money - trying to getagripon . . economic development, It’s a nebulous area at times —~ ~~ _ sometimes it’s hard to establish — exactly who or what provided the final impetus.to a project, or who or what killed a perfectly good idea. If Council can find a first-rate candidate, set some realistic short and long term objectives and ensure cotisistent follow-up, the City can only benefit. Cat story lovers like Jean McLeod will appreciate this one. Have you lost a chicken? Oscar the Cat thought he was _ in heaven the other day when - he dragged home the largest sparrow he’d ever seen, NO permanent damage, but now the little clucker is hanging out on the back porch, eating cat- — food and budgie seed. I’ve named it Din-Din, so if you. want it back, call before 5:00 eo pm. eee S| r. me EERE eS ET